Hard Justice
Hard Justice is the latest Machinima project created by DigitalPh33r. Its first episode (or Series Promo) was released on YouTube on September 20, 2008. Bernard Brown is the starring character, an ex-cop who resigns from the police department of Regent City after deciding he doesn't want to be a part of or contribute to the fact that Regent City is slowly becoming a fascist police state. Unfortunately for him, Esoteria is not much of a difference. After failing to get a job, Bernard finds a job at E.R.E.C.T, or Eradication of Repulsive Evil and Corruption Team. Despite having a dark theme, it still contains plenty of DigitalPh33r's trademark humour. =Plot Synopsis= Episode 1 The episode begins with Max Dangerfield and Edward "Eddie" Stryker breaching the door of a house. Max tells Eddie to steel himself for the coming task. Eddie decides to open the door, but Max tells him "Don't split hairs with me. Why go around something when you can go through it", and blasts open the door with his rocket launcher. Entering the house, Max discovers that the occupant of the house has downloaded three tracks of music, causing Eddie to puke violently. Just then, the occupant of the house returns, and he is placed under arrest by Max, who tells him that downloading three tracks is equivalent to killing three people. Eddie then fires at the "offender", who flees. Max blows up his car. After failing to catch him, they taser him twice and restrain him. In the meantime, Bernard arrvies at Esoteria airport, and after clearing the numerous security checkpoints, getting stopped at each of them for being nervous. He sees some job offers, one for the police force and one for a full-time dishwasher at Reggie's bar and grill. Back at the E.R.E.C.T office, Howard(the chief of E.R.E.C.T) compliments Eddie and Max on their good work at handling a dangerous criminal. The "dangerous criminal" talks to another arrested citizen, who states that his reason for arrest was assault on a police officer. However, this assault was simply farting at a 25-cent toll booth, and was deemed as "using chemical weapons to avoid paying a 25-cent toll". A call then comes in, for a carjacking outside Reggie's bar and grill. Episode 2 At Reggie's bar and grill, Bernard undergoes an interview for a dishwasher's job. When asked why he wanted the job, he says that from young, he had saved up his allowance to buy dishes so he could wash them over and over again, instead of going out to play. he stated that "its the reason I was born". Unexpectedly, he is denied the job. In the meantime, a citizen is carjacked right outside the place. As he screams for help, the carjacker keeps crashing while trying to turn the car. He then explains to the carjacked that his hideout was the other way. Fortunately, Bernard walks out of Reggie's right that moment and jacks the carjacker, then incapacitates him. The grateful citizen thanks Bernard and leaves. As he leaves, Eddie and Max arrive. Max prepares to blast the leaving car with his rocket launcher, but Bernard shoves him aside, causing him to miss. After explaining the situation, Max is unable to comprehend, and tells Eddie to "TASER EVERYONE", which Eddie does. Back at the E.R.E.C.T office, Howard questions Bernard. Upon learning that he is an ex-cop, he tries to persuade Bernard to join the force. Bernard declines, as the main reason he left Regen City in the first place was to avoid contributing to a fascist police state, but he now realises Esoteria was about the same thing. Bernard then leaves the office. Eddie follows him, and convinces Bernard to give the force a second chance. Episode 3 In the E.R.E.C.T office, Howard is skimming through police transmissions for "important" cases. He skips a homicidal killer chase, an officer's call for resuce after getting stuck under his car on a railway track while pursuing a man driving a tank into a residential area, and a homicide case, dismissing them all as "petty crimes". He then picks up a case on Washington Avenue, of a person turning his music up way too loud. He dispatches Eddie and Max to deal with it, but as they leave, they bump into Bernard, who came back to the E.R.E.C.T office to take the job. Bernard then decides that Max should go to Washington Avenue, while he and Eddie check out the homicide. At the homicide scene, they bump into the house landlord, who tells them that he came in that morning and found the victim with no limbs or head at all. He then asked him for his rent, not realising he was dead. He called the police only when he didn't respond(because he was dead). When asked by Bernard if he realised that the victim was dead and would not respond, he replied "how would I know, I'm not a doctor". Eddie speculates that it was a suicide, but Bernard argues that it would be physically impossible to either a) Cut off your legs, one arm, somehow cut off the other arm, and then the head with no limbs at all, or b) Cut off your head, then cut off all your limbs without a head. Just then, Bernard is contacted by Howard, who requests him to return to the office. Bernard leaves Eddie to investigate the "stump" of a body while he returns to the office. Eddie asks if he should scan the house for semen, to which Bernard replies "why the hell not?". Meanwhile, Max arrives at Washington Avenue, and after hurling a grenade into the occupant's house, he barges in and tells him at rocket-launcher-point to turn his music down. Back at the E.R.E.C.T office, Howard informs Bernard that his Regen City driving lisence is invalid in Esoteria, and that his driving back and forth from the crime scene was illegal. Bernard has to take another driving test. Eddie calls back and tells Bernard that after scanning the body under UV light, he discovered that it was covered with semen. Bernard replies that the body is covered in blood, which shows up under UV light, while semen does not, and puts down angrily. Back at the crime scene, Eddie realizes something, and mutters, "Yep. He's dead." Episode 4 In the morning, Bernard comes in the office, and stumbles upon Howard, who is begging for gold on Runescape. Annoyed by his stupidity, Bernard asks about Eddie and Max's whereabouts. He then proceeds to the lab, where they are. He discovers that Eddie is also playing Runescape, together with Howard. Max then appears, having got off the phone with his girlfriend. Bernard is extremely annoyed, saying "This department is a fucking gongshow". Eddie tells him to relax. Bernard then states that he had recovered the homicide body the other day, with they had completely forgotten about. Eddie comments on the "suicide". Max informs them that the case was closed with direct orders from the governor. Bernard tells them to identify the body, to which Eddie tells him is impossible, due to the lack of a head. Bernard tells Max to use a DNA test to find out who the person is. Bernard then leaves for his driving test, with Eddie driving him due to Bernard's lack of an Esoteria lisence. Eddie brags about never getting into an accident in his entire life, and proceeds to smash into an oncoming car at an intersection. Bernard yells at the driver about his speed, calling him "Marty Mcfly" and "Captain Falcon". They finally arrive at the Esoteria driving centre, where Bernard meets the driver again. Bernard questions him on why he is following him, to which the driver responds "I'm a driving instructor, I work here. I have an appointment with someone at one o'clock." Bernard realises that the guy is HIS driving instructor for the day, and mutters "oh shit." Episode 5 Governor Roman Drake contacts Howard and reprimands him for his disobedience of a direct order. Howard informs him that it was Bernard that told Max to run the DNA tests. Roman decides to come over to see Bernard personally. Unfortunately, Bernard is not back from his driving test yet. Meanwhile, Bernard proceeds with the trivial driving test, with the angry driving instructor that he crashed into earlier. After the test, through which Bernard continually insulted him, the instructor reveals that he was the father of the person arrested for downloading three songs in the first episode, and that the conception of driving companies "milking people of money" was wrong, as the police force had arrested his son for a ridiculous reason and he had to pay his bail. Bernard then tells him that he had left the police force once, and that he was different from Eddie and Max. He then gets his lisence and goes back. At the E.R.E.C.T Office, Bernard is greeted by Roman Drake, who then tells him that if he steps out of line and disobeys Drake's orders again, he will suffer. Drake then leaves. Bernard then confronts Howard, still playing Runescape, calling him a "Spineless fuck" and telling him that Drake was wasting the unit's time with trivial jobs because he had something to hide, inferring that Drake could be part of Twisted Coersion. Episode 6 The episode begins with Bernard arriving to work; only to find Eddie failing a burnout. Eddie explains that he's trying to re-create something done on TV. Howard tells him nobody actually does it, but Eddie tells him, "oh, it's okay, I've seen it done on TV," which makes Bernard angry. A second later, Bernard sees Max crash into Bernard's car. He goes into the office, and sees a word document up written by Howard that is titled "Top 10 Guys I would date If I were Gay." Howard tells Bernard to stop looking at his work, which includes "over 100 tabs of Youtube" and two emulations of Super Mario 64. Howrad tells Bernard there are no crimes today, because the radio isn't on, but no crime transmissions show up, so Bernard goes into the lab, and starts up a study on the mutilated body. Eddie comes in and is told by Bernard what he's doing. Eddie reminds him that he isn't supposed to, but they argue. Bernard tells him that whoever did this needs to be stopped, and doesn't care if he tells Howard. Eddie calls Howard to call that him and Bernard are going out to pizza. Howard gets a call that there is a disturbance at the shopping mall. Max comes in with a Battle Rifle, and Howard puts Max on the case, but Max tells him that he "has a sale on Battle Rifle rounds, 36 for the price of justice," with the BR pointed at Howards head, but Howard does nothing. Bernard and Eddie follows a signal to a strip joint, who believe they found the killer. Episode 7 Howard is rudely awakened from his sleep (and a dream involving him and Master Chief in an intense romantic moment) by a call from Roman Drake, who demands to know what's going on in his office. Howard tells him that he is doing work, but Roman tells him that he didn't know word documents made Halo 3 sounds (as Howard was playing Halo 3 at his desk, an obvious contributing fact that brought on his dream). Howard quickly covers it up by yelling "Eddie, turn it down!" and framing Eddie for it, but is quickly caught in the act when Roman reminds him that he can see him on CCTV surveillance. Roman then demands to know where Max, Eddie and Bernard (in particular) are and what they are doing. Meanwhile, Bernard and Eddie arrive at the Esoteria Gentleman's Club, and Eddie comments that "I don't see any gentlemen around here". Bernard and Eddie find the suspect, who is having a private session with one of the girls. Interrupting him, Bernard questions him about the murder, but he denies that he had anything to do with it. He then leaves to use the washroom, but Bernard does not follow him because he has a lock on the man's ID tag. The man at the bar, who overhears the conversation, follows the suspect to the men's lavatory attacks him and then drowns him in the washbasin. The counter man then returns to his post, and Bernard continues complaining about how long the man is taking, unaware he lies dead on the men's lavatory floor. Episode 8 Max arrives at the Esoteria Shopping Center after recieving a call about a disturbance in the vicinity. After an awkward greeting from the caller, Max is told that the disturbance is a man who claims to have gotton his buttocks shaved and is asking everyone to touch it, and then asks them to come to his home for some "quality time." Max confronts the man, but ends up actually going to his apartment to watch Indian in the Cupboard with him. Meanwhile, a member of Twisted Coercion tells his boss that the plan to throw Bernard of track worked, and then asks him what they should do next. Back at E.R.E.C.T. HQ, Bernard is going over the murder of Richard Barker at the Gentleman's Club to Howard, who is paying no attention to him and is instead playing Castlevania. Governor Roman then calls on speaker phone and gives Bernard a solo assignment to investigate a body that was found at the chemical plant on the other side of the city. Eddie is also given orders to head over to Reggie's Bar & Grill to deal with a vandalism report. As they get into seperate jeeps, Bernard expresses that he is suspicious about these assignments, and asks Eddie to come with him. Eddie doesn't comply, thinking he will get fired, so Bernard just sighs and drives away. However, Eddie also feels that something is out of place, so he calls Reggie's Bar & Grill to confirm that vandalism report. When the owner reveals that there never was any vandalism, Eddie looks on in horror as Bernard drives off into what must surely be a trap. =Main Characters= Bernard Brown Bernard Brown is an ex-policeman from Regen City and the newest member of E.R.E.C.T. In E.R.E.C.T, he is the most intelligent and sensible of the four, who actually thinks before he shoots, unlike Max, and has a brain to speak of, unlike Edward. Bernard is a dedicated policeman who is actually concerned about Esoteria's well-being, and is the only one in the department who does not while away his work time playing Runescape, watching porn or calling his girlfriend. He prioritizes things much better than Max or Howard. While Howard ignores the calls for backup on the chase of a homicidal killer, chase of a man driving a tank into a residential area and a homicide case, he sends Eddie and Max after a case where a neighbour has his music turned up too loud. Bernard decides to investigate the homicide with Eddie, and sends Max to the music case. Bernard is also a sort-of "loose cannon", when he defies Roman Drake's orders to close the case of the homicide, and tells Max to run a DNA scan on the body. He generally shows more sympathy for the citizens of Esoteria, sympathizing with the driving instructor on his son's arrest, and also the carjacked person in the second episode (despite calling him a gay). Max Dangerfield Max is an operative in E.R.E.C.T. He wears white MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, and is never seen without his rocket launcher and battle rifle. It is unknown if Max has more brains than Edward, as whenever he sees trouble, he will whip out his rocket launcher and fire. A trigger-happy fellow who "shoots before he thinks", the direct opposite of Bernard. Only Bernard's quick movement saved the carjacked victim in episode 2 from Max's rocket launcher. Max relishes destruction, as can be inferred from his line in episode 1 "Don't split hairs with me. Why go around something when you can go through it". Max goes 200% into his job to make sure that the offender never commits the same crime, like hurling a grenade into the occupant's house, then pointing his rocket launcher at the occupant's head telling him to turn the music down. Max typically orders Eddie around, taking advantage of his weak-mindedness. Edward "Eddie" Stryker Eddie is an operative in E.R.E.C.T. He wears blue MJOLNIR Mark VI armor. He normally carries a taser and an assault rifle. He frequently uses the taser to stop escaping criminals or when Max tells him to "taser everyone". Eddie is a weak-minded person, as he is easily manipulated and controlled by Max into doing anything. He is also a terrible driver, as he crashes into another car nearly instantly after leaving the E.R.E.C.T office. Eddie has a complete lack of a brain or any intelligence. He does not realise that a homicide victim is dead even though it is limbless and headless, a "stump". Howard Marshall The Head of E.R.E.C.T. Howard typically spends his day at his computer, playing Runescape, watching porn, playing Super Mario 64 and watching over 100 youtube videos at the same time(impossible as it sounds), or trying out burnouts in the car park, pausing only to instruct the E.R.E.C.T team to attend to crimes that he sees fit. Howard is gullible and not very intelligent, proven when he lets Bernard and Eddie leave the office for pizza and this conversation below Howard: "So, you mind telling me who the hell you are?" Bernard (with two guns pointed at his head): Bernard Brow... Howard: "SHUT UP!" Howard walks over to Bernard and puches him in the face. Bernard: "Ow! What the fuck?!" Howard: "What gives you the right to interfere with police business?" Bernard: "The fact your top dog here was about to blow up the wrong guy." Howard: "Who are you?" Bernard: "I was just about to tell you..." Howard: "Blah blah blah blah blah. I don't have time for your mumbo jumbo bullshit and circular logic. Just give it to me straight." Bernard: "(I don't believe this) My name is Bernard Brown and I'm an ex-cop from Regent City." Howard is all drama and no intelligence, as this demonstrates. Sometimes it's even hinted he may be homosexual. Roman Drake The mysterious governor of Esoteria, who seems to be keeping Howard and E.R.E.C.T pinned down with useless cases, Runescape and strange orders to NOT investigate cases like homicides. Suspected links with Twisted Coersion, as he comes down and threatens Bernard after Bernard discovers that the homicide victim was a member of Twisted Coersion. Roman Drake appears in Episode 5, and is heard in Episode 7 when he calls Howard. =Single-appearance characters/Minor Characters= Driving instructor The driving instructor that gives Bernard his test for an Esoteria driving lisence. Bernard first meets him when Eddie crashes into the instructor's car, as he hurries to work(Bernard's driving test), and Bernard hurries to his driving test. After a brief altercation with Bernard, he quickly drives off to the driving centre, where he meets Bernard again, and Bernard discovers that he isn't going to have a pleasant time on the test. During the test, he continue his verbal sparring with Bernard, and after it, he gripes that he hates the police force as his son was arrested for downloading three songs and he had to pay his bail. After Bernard responds that he had nothing to do with that, he passes Bernard and gives him the lisence, although he still thinks Bernard is a dick. The driving instructor appears in Episode 4 and 5. Driving instructor's son After Eddie and Max break into his home, they discover that he has downloaded three tracks, an offence "equivalent to killing three people". He then comes home at that moment. After a brief chase, he is tasered twice by Eddie and put into custody at the E.R.E.C.T office, where he meets a fellow prisoner, who was arrested for farting at a toll booth. His father later tells Bernard that he had to bail out his son. The driving instructor's son appears in Episode 1 and is mentioned in Episode 5. Landlord The landlord of the house rented by the homicide (or the "suicide" case according to Eddie) victim. He is exceptionally dim-witted, as he only called the police when he asked the dead man for his rent and he failed to respond (because he was dead), not knowing that he was dead, despite having no limbs OR a head. When questioned by Bernard if he knew that the victim was deceased, he says "I don't know, I'm not a doctor." The landlord appears in Episode 3. He is voiced by DLaz Homicide victim The homicide victim was never really seen, just looked down upon by Bernard and Eddie. On the date of his death, his rent was due or already overdue. His death was discovered by the landlord, who arrived to collect his rent, but failed to receive a response, who then called the police. The homicide victim's state when the police arrived was armless, headless and legless. His cause of death was obviously homicide, as it is impossible to commit suicide either by a)chopping off the legs, one arm, somehow chop off the other arm, and then chop off the head with no limbs at all or b)chop off your head, then somehow chop off all your limbs without a head. The homicide victim appeared (but wasn't seen) in Episode 3. Homicide suspect The suspect wears white MJOLNIR Mark VI armour. He is seen in the Esoteria Gentleman's Club, where he is taking the services of a prostitute. His DNA was found on the homicide victim's body, and Bernard goes to confront him with Eddie. However, the suspect denies any connection with the murder, and goes to the bathroom. Unfortunately for him, the man at the counter overheard the words "Esoteria police force", and goes into the toilet. He drowns the suspect in the washbasin, without saying anything. The suspect is mentioned in Episode 6 and appears and dies in Episode 7. Mason Clark Mason Clark was first seen in Episode 7 at the Esoteria Gentleman's Club. He does nothing when the suspect is confronted at first, but when he overhears the words "Esoteria police force", he kills the suspect while he's using the toilet, unknown to Bernard. In Episode 8, Mason reports to the leader of Twisted Coersion, asking what his next orders were. *May be a main character in later episodes. To quote DigitalPh33r's blog,http://digitalph33r.blogspot.com/2008/12/news-new-hard-justice-coming-this-week.html "Expect some shit to go down on this episode and catch a first-time glimpse of one of the series' main villains". =Reception= Hard Justice has been well-received by the fan community. The series is praised for the inventive mixture of comedy and seriousness in addition to a well-constructed storyline. While it is not the most popular of his series, it is possibly one of his fastest-growing. Episode 7 does not appear to be as well-received, due to the opening dream sequence. This is because it wasted time of the episode and portrayed Master Chief in a derogatory manner.